


A Bloodied Broom

by Beryll (Rynthjan)



Series: Sir Yaden [10]
Category: Original Work
Genre: M/M, Pebble, Psychics, Slavery, Violence, alien monster, phoenix empire
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-20
Updated: 2013-04-26
Packaged: 2017-12-09 00:02:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,429
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/767642
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rynthjan/pseuds/Beryll
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An ill-advised smuggler has started selling small N'Bosoti artefacts. Yaden is sent to find out where he is getting his dangerous merchandise.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

"Ouwh! Fuck!"

Yaden rarely swore out loud. That was pretty much the only reason Ivan managed not to laugh when his friend and teacher dropped the shock collar he had just activated. Apparently he didn't quite manage to keep a smirk off his face though, as Yaden glared at him.

"You think that is funny?"

Ivan nodded. "Yep, very. After all, I asked you just a minute ago if you really thought this was a good idea."

Yaden huffed indignantly. "Well, I didn't hear you propose a better idea either."

"Which is entirely due to the fact that this humble student of yours doesn't even get how you do that sunshine shit." Ivan countered.

With a tired sigh Yaden flopped down into the sand and nudged the offending shock collar with his toes. "Give yourself some time, Ivan." He advised. "You've just started learning how to channel energy to me and back."

For a moment the familiar anger at being patronized reared its head in Ivan's heart, but by now it needed just a casual kick to be silenced. Yaden was entirely correct. He was making great progress with all his lessons and all his trainers were either praising him for that or cautioning him not to push himself too hard.

He dropped into the sand of the lagoon next to Yaden. They had come here after their training session on the extra island to take a swim and relax a bit before dinner. Until Yaden had come up with the dumb idea of trying to absorb the electric current a shock collar generated to bolster his energy reserves.

"Maybe you should give yourself a break, too," Ivan suggested, "after all you just figured out how to eat sunshine."

Yaden lay back into the sand, stretching himself out for maximum exposure to the remaining sunlight. Ivan quietly envied him that trick. To lie in the sun and recharge sounded like an awesome solution to his constantly low batteries. Yaden had tried to explain and show him how to do it, but so far it seemed like magic to Ivan. Understandable in theory, but impossible to do.

"It just annoys me." Yaden grumbled. "It should be possible. With sunlight it's easier because it's so slow and steady. I just can't get a grip on the electric current quickly enough."

"I suggest you do NOT practise with that shock collar." Ivan commented. "Colin will have a hissy fit if he finds out you are hurting yourself to learn something."

"Agreed."

For a while the enjoyed the warmth of the sun and the sand in silence. The gentle lapping of the waves against the beach and the occasional cry from a bird were the only sounds out here on Yaden's island. Sounds from the manor and the small houses were blocked by the cliff that rose up to the actual island at the landside end of the beach.

Ivan let his mind empty and rest. Not the kind of focused meditation the trainers of his youth had forced on him, but the exercise Yaden had taught him. Just let yourself flow outwards in all directions, let go of all tension and control.

It was a state of mind that made sudden sparks of inspiration quite likely.

"How about you get one of those toys where you have a glass bulb filled with electric currents. You know, the ones which look like they are filled with lightning." Ivan told Yaden of his idea. "That way you should have time to get attuned to the current without getting hurt."

"That might work." Yaden agreed.

He sounded content now and when Ivan used his newly learned abilities to sense psychic energy, he could feel his friend hum with gentle warmth. He was feasting on the sunlight. With quiet determination, Ivan swore to himself that he would figure out how to do this, too. It just felt so nice.

"When Colin declares his outfitting of the Pebble as done, we'll have to fit some spaceship piloting lessons into your schedule." Yaden said, apparently following his own train of thoughts.

The Pebble had arrived on P2 via port only two days ago, after her extended stay at the Mojav Shipyards. The complete makeover of the interior and all the repairs had taken almost a month.

Yaden and Ivan had stayed on Guild Central for two weeks, doing various 'small missions' that General Hamilton had piling up on his desk for that planet. Stuff like helping the local police track down an allegedly psychic serial killer, who had turned out not to be psychic after all. Or stopping a group of misguided, amateurish bankers turned demonists from opening a gate to god knows where.

But when they had run out of things to do, they had returned home as well and been on hold since then, waiting for their next major assignment. Time they had invested into lots and lots of training.

Now that the Pebble was here, Colin had claimed her to add all the personal touches which would transform her from some spaceship into their spaceship.

"You will permit me to fly her?" Ivan asked a little surprised. It hadn't even crossed his mind that Yaden would allow anyone to pilot his treasured ship.

Yaden looked over at him, mirroring his surprise. "Of course. Colin too. What if something happens to me to knock me out like on Nabuco? Someone else has to be able to fly her."

He made perfect sense, of course. Like he usually did. Ivan realized somewhat chagrined that he still tended to expect Yaden to act like some sort of spoiled, arrogant noble now and then. Then the fact penetrated that he was actually going to learn how to fly the Pebble and a huge grin spread on his face.

"Cool!" he exclaimed.

"She is pretty easy to fly anyway." Yaden explained. "None of that fancy high-tech stuff. I'm sure you'll pick it up in no time. My grandpa taught me how." The smile on Yaden's face was a mix of sadness and fond memories. "At least in theory." He added. "I guess I'm going to lift her up myself for the first time and we can practise take-offs somewhere less breakable."

"I promise I will be very careful with her." Ivan said.

Yaden just laughed. "No need to be. She is build to ram things, after all." He grinned. "I think I'll ask Ciel to port us to one of the remoter moons of the system so we won't mess up P2 orbital traffic and then we can do some flying lessons. She is probably the best ship you can get for learning to fly since you'll have a really hard time damaging her."

He smiled wistfully up towards where the Pebble was parked on the highest point of the island, invisible from where they were lying on the beach. "There are so many things I want to try with her. She so deserves to get back on duty."

Ivan smiled as well, only he was looking at Yaden. It was just adorable how much affection he had for his ship. Then he looked up at the sky. "We should get back and wash up before dinner." He suggested. Colin didn't really mind them appearing in their swimming trunks, but he preferred a somewhat orderly family dinner. And a happy Colin was always a good thing.

"Aye, let's go." Yaden effortlessly jumped to his feet. "Race you to the house? I promise I won't cheat."

\---

"There you are, I was starting to wonder if we would have to go without you." Yaden said with a smirk.

Then leaned in to kiss Colin as his lover tried to wriggle past him through the hatch of the Pebble. Only then did he notice that the cloth wrapped bundle Colin was carrying intensely smelled of fresh bread.

"On the other hand, I concede that this is an excellent reason for being late." He added.

Before he could try to sneak a glance under the cloth, Colin had already dodged past him with a breathless laugh. "Oh no, you don't!" he chided. "This goes straight into the stasis pantry!"

That pantry was one of the more expensive features that had been added to the Pebble on Guild Central. The large and well equipped kitchen had been something Colin had negotiated with the Phoenix Tower, while other things like the stasis chamber and a rather esoteric cloaking shield had been installed on direct orders from the Emperor. That Colin had immediately decided that they would use the stasis chamber as a fail-proof pantry had probably not been the original plan, but as long as they didn't tell anyone about it, no one would be able to complain.

Yaden pulled the hatch shut behind Colin and then followed him up the stairs. "Are we ready to go then?" he asked.

Colin nodded.

They had spent the morning packing and moving stuff onto the Pebble that they might need on a mission that looked like it would mostly be boring surveillance and might last several weeks. Books and movies to keep them entertained when they were not training. Still Yaden was immensely looking forward to his first mission on the Pebble. Having both Ivan and Colin along was icing on the cake and a cherry on top.

The timing and nature of the mission was perfect, too. Just the previous morning, Colin had declared the Pebble fully outfitted for active duty. They were supposed to tail a smuggler and find out who was supplying him was tiny, intriguing N'Bosoti artefacts. They seemed to be harmless. At least there had been nothing in the mission briefing that indicated they had done anything dangerous so far. But after the much more extensive briefing Yaden and Ivan had received on the subject of N'Bosoti in general, they quickly agreed that nothing of N'Bosoti origin should ever be ignored.

But they wouldn't be facing any artefacts on this mission. Even taking into account the tendency of Phoenix Knight missions to end up turning entirely weird and unpredictable, this one looked rather safe since they were not supposed to engage, just quietly gather intelligence. So Yaden felt comfortable taking Colin along. He was sure they would have plenty of time for flying lessons under the protection of the cloaking shield. And plenty of time for snuggling and cuddling all over the Pebble with Colin.

He sensed Pebble herself hum with anticipation around him. Like him she couldn't wait to get back into action.

"Are you coming up to the bridge for the take-off?" Yaden asked as Colin turned into the kitchen.

"Sure, just give me a minute to put this away." Colin answered with a fond smile.

It made Yaden love his husband-to-be even more how much Colin didn't begrudge Yaden his affection for Pebble and instead happily shared in it.

He made his way up to the bridge where Ivan was already waiting. His squire had claimed the communications officer's station for himself and was carefully studying the short hand written user's manual that some helpful engineer had taped to the console. He looked up and grinned at Yaden, as eager as ever.

"All ready?" he asked.

Yaden nodded. "Yes, just waiting for Colin to come up." He walked over to the captain's chair and just looked at it for a moment. This was it then. He would take the place of his grandfather. So far, he had only ever perched on the armrest when he had been a boy. He could feel Pebble's excitement and it gave him that final push he needed. Slowly, he lowered himself into the chair and breathed deeply.

"Do I need to strap myself in somewhere or something?" Colin asked as he bustled onto the bridge as well.

"No, it should be a smooth take-off." Yaden answered.

He pulled the handle that opened the heavy metal shutters that protected the front window. Not that they could see anything but the sky from it right now, but he figured the view would be nice when they were in space. Then he let his senses flow outward, truly embracing Pebble. She fit around him like a second skin, extended like a part of his body where his feet touched the floor. Despite her size and mass, she didn't feel heavy at all. It just needed a minute nudge of his toes and she smoothly rose from the landing pad.

"So?" Ivan asked impatiently. "What are we waiting for?"

Yaden laughed. They hadn't even noticed that they were in the air.

"We are flying already." He answered, raising Pebble further up.

"Oh." Ivan commented surprised and then a little louder. "Oh, damn it, you are GOOD."

\--Ready for port?-- Ciel's calm, professional voice contacted Yaden telepathically.

\--Absolutely!-- Yaden thought back with all his exuberant joy bleeding through.

He was answered with a delighted little laugh from P2 Prime. Then he felt Ciel gently synchronize with him to be able to port Pebble while she was so firmly in Yaden's grip and a moment later, they were in open space. Its vastness opened around Yaden, tempting him to let his senses expand. He didn't resist.

They were in the system of Agrabah, but not close to the name-giving planet, but instead near the Rostock space station, which was situated halfway between the planet and the jumpgate. At some point in the distant past, it had been a marooned space ship, but with time it had turned into a jumbled knot of mostly wrecked vessels of all kind, crudely welded together to form and enormous lump of metal. It was a place where one could buy and sell everything outside of most jurisdictions.

It was here that the smuggler was currently trading in his latest shipment of artefacts. When he left the station, they would quietly follow him.

"Engage the cloaking shield, please." Yaden told Ivan. "And run a scan for the smuggler's signature."

"Aye, aye, Captain." Ivan answered with a grin and started flipping switches at his console.

There were quite a lot of new controls installed there. The various scanners that had been installed on the Pebble were state-of-the-art equipment. It was a modernisation that Yaden didn't mind.

His own console looked exactly like it had at the time of his grandfather. Nothing about the engines and flight controls had been changed. Yaden lovingly ran his hands over the sturdy levers and handles.

"All right," he said softly, "shall we bring you back to life, my love?"

Then he firmly grabbed the lever that controlled the main engine and started pushing it up. With a resounding rumble, the huge engines of Pebble started up. The vibration ran through the whole ship and felt to Yaden as if she was shaking herself awake after a much to long nap. And then she eased forward, slowly gathering momentum. She was flying and with Yaden so deeply entwined with her, he was flying as well.


	2. Chapter 2

Yaden idly wondered if there was anything in the world that made him happier than watching Colin prepare food. The way his lover moved through the kitchen with the quiet confidence of a dancer who had memorized all the steps to his dance so deeply he could do him in his sleep - it made Yaden content with a feeling of home and family that was probably entirely inappropriate for a noble.

Luckily, Yaden had stopped worrying about being a proper Dracon or even just a proper noble long ago when Darren explained to him that he was different in so many ways that conforming to a norm was a doomed effort from the get go.

With quiet happiness, Yaden watched as Colin deftly handled his favourite kitchen knife to cut a long tendon out of a piece of tenderloin.

How could a man doing something so plain look so utterly gorgeous?

Colin managed it easily. But then he always looked gorgeous, whether he was getting up in the morning, looking adorably grumpy with his hair sticking everywhere or whether he was with a calm smile listening to Myriam excitedly chattering about her latest training session or whether his body was straining against Yaden's, hot and strong and sweaty, when they made love. Colin was perfect.

There was only one thing marring that perfection and that was the simple leather slave collar Colin still wore. It didn't really bother Yaden whether his beloved was a slave or a commoner or a noble or a god incarnate. But the collar was a constant reminder of how he had nearly lost Colin not once, but twice.

First, when Yaden had been forced to come up with an instant solution to a bunch of villagers bent on burning Colin at the stake. Claiming him as his slave had been the only thing that crossed his mind in his panic. In hindsight it hadn't been his brightest idea, considering how very hard it was to get rid of the slave status again.

And second, because Colin had been incredibly pissed about Yaden's perceived betrayal. No amount of apologizing and swearing his love had appeased him. Yaden still wasn't entirely sure why Colin had forgiven him in the end and sometimes he still wasn't sure he really was worthy of his love being returned. When he had asked Colin to marry him, he hadn't been sure what answer he would get.

But all of that was in the past now. Only three more weeks and they would get married, that collar would come off and Colin would have to switch to all black Dracon garb. At least he would probably make a much better noble than Yaden. He had the temper and arrogance for it.

"Yaden? How are those carrots coming along?" Colin interrupted his day dreaming.

Guiltily Yaden looked down at the bundle of carrots he had been supposed to pare. "I… uh… got distracted." He admitted.

Colin came over to him, wiping his hands on the kitchen towel he had tugged into his belt. He was grinning fondly. "By what?"

"You." Yaden replied honestly.

With a soft laugh Colin leaned down to him and kissed his cheek. "How will you ever get anything done with me in sight?" he asked.

Yaden shrugged. "I have no idea, love." He slung one arm around his lover's hips and pulled him close. "And frankly I couldn't care less."

For a moment, Colin allowed him to cuddle, but then he firmly freed himself. "In that case, I guess I will have to take charge." He said, smiling. "Pare those carrots." He pointed at the vegetables. "Now."

"Aye, sir." Yaden replied with a smirk.

Colin turned back to the huge stove with a chuckle and a shake of his head. He yelped most adorably when Yaden used the opportunity to smack his ass. Then Yaden obeyed and started peeling and cutting carrots. They continued preparing dinner in companionable silence.

Ivan appeared right on time when Yaden was done setting the table.

He had been on watch duty on the bridge, keeping an eye on their quarry and at the same time practicing small flight manoeuvres with the Pebble. He and Colin had at first been somewhat daunted by flying, but they had quickly realized that out here in open space, it was actually not very hard since there wasn't much they had to evade. Pebble's flight controls were set up in a way that made it very hard to do anything wrong. And even if they did hit something, it didn't scratch Pebble.

Yaden had deliberately made both of them graze an asteroid they had passed by to make them comfortable with the knowledge that ramming stuff with Pebble was not a problem. All three of them were getting better at flying rapidly.

Not too surprising, considering they had plenty of time to train. Following the smuggler to the jumpgate and through two jumps to the Swansgard system hadn't been very exciting.

"Any news?" Yaden asked him.

"Still looks like he is heading for one of the moons of the fifth planet." Ivan reported. "Scanners still don't show anything unusual." He looked over at Colin. "Anything I can still help with?" he asked politely.

Colin smiled at him. "No, kid. Sit down, dinner's ready in a minute." He said and made shooing gestures.

Ivan still always made a point of being extra polite and respectful to Colin. Yaden wasn't sure whether he did this because of the initial warning Yaden had given him when they had returned from Bora Bora or if he was taking his cues from Yaden, who treated his lover with the same respect.

In Yaden's mind, Colin was the leading part in their relationship. Maybe Yaden was the one who went out and heroically saved the Empire now and then. But to him Colin would always be the more mature, more experienced and better suited person to tell him what to do when he wasn't sure how to proceed. The knowledge that Colin would always be there to tell him when he was getting stupid ideas was immensely reassuring.

Colin didn't seem to mind his position as head of the household either. They had never really talked about it, but the simple division of responsibility worked perfectly for both of them.

Ivan settled in his usual place at the table and hungrily eyed the pots on the stove.

"Maybe he is meeting with his supplier at that moon and they simply aren't there yet." Yaden suggested and took his own place.

"Or their base of operations is too well hidden for our scanners to pick up from here." Ivan countered. "I guess we'll find out when we get there."

Colin carried the pots over to the table and than sat down as well, allowing Yaden and Ivan to heap their plates first. He always took pride in how eagerly they devoured his food. "So what happens if one of those monsters is actually out there?" he asked when Yaden and Ivan had started eating.

"Well," Yaden said, chewing thoughtfully, "we are not supposed to show ourselves. Just to find out who his contact is and possibly follow them. After everything I have seen and read about them now, I don't think it would be a good idea to engage one."

Ivan gave an annoyed little grunt. "How are we ever going to find out if we can take one on if we don't try?" he asked with his usual cocky confidence.

Yaden frowned at his plate and shovelled more of the delicious stew into his mouth. Even though the reports they had been given to study all cautioned to stay well clear of actual N'Bosoti, Yaden silently agreed with Ivan that they would have to figure out a way to fight them eventually. If they were even half as dangerous and aggressive as those same reports stated, they would run into them again and they would have to be able to defend themselves better than they had been when facing that artefact.

But that was certainly not an experiment Yaden planned to undertake with Colin anywhere near.

Ivan apparently interpreted his thoughtful silence as disapproval. "Come on, how hard can it be?" He asked. "I mean, that Saint Cornelius mowed down a whole fleet of them."

Yaden chuckled softly. "The operational word here is 'Saint'. Those bastards are evil. So I'm thinking that a priest is probably a lot better equipped to deal with them than a psion. Plus we are not talking about any priest here, but a living saint."

He just had to watch Ivan's face to see how much his younger friend thought the whole 'living saint' thing was just marketing crap of the church. Yaden had his doubts about that. He knew how much about himself was Phoenix Knight marketing crap and how much was true. Way too much of it was true. But Ivan didn't voice his opinion aloud. He just continued eating with a vengeance.

"So what DO we do if we run into one of them?" Colin repeated his original question with annoying tenacity.

"We cover your retreat." Ivan answered the question before Yaden could even open his mouth.

Colin looked up in outraged consternation, while Yaden grinned at Ivan and nodded. For a moment, Colin's mouth moved silently, then he snapped it shut with an audible 'thud'. He frowned at both Yaden and Ivan, but didn't say anything. Yaden knew that expression all too well. It was his 'stubborn mule' mode and there was no arguing with him now. He made a mental note to forcibly remove Colin to somewhere safe should it come to a fight so he wouldn't get into the line of fire.

"Anyway," Yaden tried to warm the frosty silence that had settled around the table, "I doubt there's an actual N'Bosoti involved in this. I'm sure they have better things to do than peddle junk. Being an incredibly evil menace to all that is good and all that."

Colin relaxed visibly, reassured by Yaden's words, but Yaden also caught Ivan's look that was rather doubtful. Maybe he had taken to heart the lesson that Phoenix Knights were trouble magnets a little too thoroughly.

"So I'm guessing the two of you will be heading to the bridge after dinner to keep an eye on our prey?" Colin asked.

"I'll help with washing up first." Ivan offered. "I feel like the worst slave in the Empire with the two of you doing all the housework."

Both Yaden and Colin smiled at him. It was amazing how little was left of the angry, stroppy Bora Bora mine slave, Yaden thought happily. With each day Ivan gained more confidence and a growing sense of self-worth. And he knew as well as Yaden and Colin that inside their little family his status as a slave was none existent.

"I think that title firmly belongs to me with my lack of respect for any kind of authority." Colin joked in answer to Ivan's words and they shared a grin.

"At least you never tried to run away." Ivan said cheerfully.

"Ha! But I have slapped my owner. Repeatedly." Colin countered.

"Really?" Ivan blinked in surprise and looked over at Yaden who shrugged. "Why ever would you slap him?"

Colin turned to Yaden with a loving smile and leaned over to kiss his cheek. "Honestly? Stupidity." He answered. "He didn't deserve it."

Yaden didn't quite agree with that, but it was a point he wasn't going to argue about. He was grateful that Colin had forgiven him and he had learned the hard way that it was safer not to mention his lingering guilt, now that he had been forgiven.

"So when did that happen?" Ivan asked curiously. "Didn't look like there was any slapping happening in the movie."

Colin snickered. "One of these days I'll have to tell you what really happened on Leichnam." He said. "Which reminds me, when I was at the last pre-wedding meeting with the PR-team I got a glimpse of the first drafts for the Bora Bora movie."

Ivan blinked at him in stupefied horror. "Please tell me you are joking! They aren't really going to turn that into a movie!"

"Oh, they are absolutely delighted about it. Lots of action, pretty lad rescued by Phoenix Knight. Of course they will." Colin answered smugly. "They are still trying to figure out what you are. Ganger, escaped pet, wrongly imprisoned prince…"

Ivan made choked sounds and fumbled for his water glass which Colin generously placed in his hand.

"I really look forward to the casting." He added. "I hope they find someone pretty to play you. Seems they plan to go the same route as with Yaden and pick someone who doesn't look anything like you so you can continue to do undercover missions."

Their chattering was cheerful enough, but Yaden couldn't help a strange sense of unease creeping into his heart. There really was no reason why he should feel apprehensive about another movie and still he shifted uncomfortably in his seat. Only when he realized that his attention had long drifted away from the conversation and his feelings didn't change did he notice that the sense of wrongness had to come from a different source.

He had been sitting with one foot tugged under him, but now he firmly lowered both feet to the floor to get a better sense of Pebble. His first impression was cold. Biting cold and emptiness like there was a breach somewhere and the void itself was seeping inside. Only he also clearly sensed Pebble's outer hull and the real cold of space and it didn't bother him at all. Like a many fingered caress, his senses rushed through Pebble, seeking for a reason.

He found nothing.

His heart started beating faster as he concentrated harder. There had to be something. Not knowing what was wrong scared him and he couldn't remember when he had been scared the last time. It could be anything and if he couldn't find it, there would be nothing he could do to protect Ivan and Colin.

That made him realize they had fallen silent as well.

"Yaden? What's wrong?" Ivan asked, his own unease obvious in his voice.

"I don't know." Yaden answered. His own voice sounded too high and much too scared to him. "There is something…"

He got up slowly, his senses once more sweeping through Pebble. And finally he caught it. A weight on the floor, right here in the room where none should have been. Heavy, hard, cold - and close.

The moment he found it, the air in that spot seemed to ripple and suddenly it was there. Huge, black, with too many deep red eyes, staring at them hungrily. It had invaded Pebble with ease, could have killed them at its leisure. It was just toying with them, and there was nothing at all they could do.

Ivan saw it too, now, and recoiled from it with a gasp, his chair toppling over as he scrambled backwards.

Yaden tried to gather himself, tried to fight the crippling panic, but he couldn't deny the fact that for the first time in his life, he was truly helpless. He would die. They would all die for the amusement of that thing and there was nothing at all he could do.


	3. Chapter 3

For a heartbeat, Colin was tempted to scoff at Yaden's overly dramatic remark. Something or someone, here on the Pebble?

When Yaden suddenly blanched and Ivan all but fell out of his chair, scrambling backwards, the scene made so little sense to him that at first, he didn't even notice the monster that had appeared right next to them. As if a part of his own mind tried to trick him into not looking at that particular corner of the table, Colin wondered what was wrong with Yaden, and even stood up and rushed towards Ivan, trying to help him get back onto his feet.

But then, a motion in the corner of his eye caught his attention, and he made the fatal mistake of looking straight at it.

Tall enough that its elongated head all but scraped the ceiling, the monster was all black chitinous legs with razor-sharp tips. Somewhere in this tangle of limbs, on the lower end of a flared, triangular head, six red eyes stared at him, and even though the creature's visage was utterly alien, its expression was obvious. It was annoyed, angered, and finally out of patience.

Frozen with fear, Colin remained motionless, half bent down to help Ivan, half poised to run and hide as soon as his body would listen to his commands again. If he had pissed himself on the spot, he wouldn't have noticed. He couldn't even remember if he had ever been this afraid in his life. Not when he had dared to ask his guildmaster to test him for master baker, nor when he had found out that the women of his hometown had been lying to him for years, abusing his good intentions. Even during the zombie outbreak that had killed his mother he had never been this scared, this much reduced to the most basic instincts.

This was how a deer must feel, caught in the headlights of an approaching freight train.

The creature moved, and it was like nothing Colin had ever seen before. Smooth and swift, with an easy elegance that made its massive size only more oppressive, it slid towards Ivan, half walking next to the table, half on top of it, leaving deep gauges in the hard wood. Somewhere between the limbs and their blade-like tips, Colin caught a glimpse of smaller appendages, like a half-dozen sets of tiny dark arms with tiny dark hands, clenched to a scaly chest, but then the image was gone again.

But the motion seemed to bring Ivan and Yaden back to their senses, at least for a moment.

Almost simultaneously, the two psions raised their hands, a gesture Colin had learned to carry more threat than drawing a gun. Instantly, a cone of fire shot out of Ivan's palms, white and searing, hot enough so Colin could feel the heat prick on his face meters away.

But the monster didn't even react. Ivan's flames fizzled and died as soon as they came within a few inches of the beast, showing little more effect than a candle flame would on a tank's armour. Mildly annoyed, the beast stabbed for Ivan with one of his legs, but he rolled to the side, evading the blow that left a jagged hole in the metal floor. Instantly, the monster attacked twice again, missed again, and hissed with obvious anger, a sound that seemed to peel the skin of Colin's soul.

The beast's next attack on Ivan came from another leg, which he still managed to evade. Lying on his back between the chairs, he hurled another blast of flames at the monster, this time at its face. It didn't do any more harm than the first time, but at least it forced the creature to look away for a moment. But as soon as the flames cleared, it attacked Ivan again, this time with two legs that ended in long, scythe-like blades, each hit of them ripping open the floor and drawing sparks from severed cables. Ivan managed to evade the first few blows, but then he found himself caught between two of the creatures legs. His eyes widening with fear, he realized in the same moment as Colin that he had been goaded into this position all along, the last wave of barely aimed hits clearly designed to move him into a position he couldn't get out again.

Slowly, almost gleefully, the monster raised one of its legs to finish him off. But extended as it already was, it had to lean into the hit, and seemed to fail miserably, only managing to stab Ivan's thigh instead of the chest it clearly had been aiming for.

With another blood-curdling hiss, it turned around to stare at its rear legs, finding two of them neatly chained with metal strips that had been ripped out from the floor. Right then, a large metal wall panel was hurled across the room, aiming square for the creature's head. But with a motion of its scythe-legs so swift Colin could hardly see it, the massive chunk of metal was whisked out of the air and hurled into the kitchen counter, ripping appliances from their sockets and making water spew out of the holes.

With a low snarl that seemed to grate on Colin's bones, the beast turned his attention away from Ivan and towards Yaden. All but jumping across the table, it lashed out for him, but missed him as its feet were still tied to the floor, and wouldn't give way as easily as it had thought. With a grim display of brute strength, it pulled its feet along, ripping open the floor even more, inch by inch. Colin could see Yaden straining, his hands closed to fists so tight they were white and shivering, and yet he couldn't hold the beast. It was as if the laws of physics didn't apply to it, and this was only a battle of willpower.

And they were loosing.

With a sudden flash of clarity, Colin realized that they would probably die here. Ivan's and Yaden's awesome powers might be able to delay the outcome a little bit, but they were hopelessly outmatched.

The beast would kill Yaden, and leave him lonely again.

If it killed them all, here, Myriam would loose their fathers. Again.

It would destroy their family.

This realisation hit Colin with such horror that the primal fear which had kept him cowering fell off him in a single heartbeat. As if having been under water for way too long and finally reaching the surface, Colin drew air.

Suddenly, the monster didn't look like something out of a nightmare any longer. And it wasn't a monster, actually. It was a N'Bosoti, a creature of legend, immensely powerful and old, brilliantly smart and heartless.

But in the end, it was just another person.

Colin also realized that the N'Bosoti wasn't really black, either. It was wearing some sort of black, skin-tight armour, only in a few places exposing its real chitinous hide. Mottled brown with darker streaks, the colour of a cockroach.

"Ey, vermin!" Colin yelled across the room. "You will not destroy this family. Not on my watch."

More as a gesture than a real combat move, Colin grabbed one of the chairs that were lying on the floor next to him and hurled it at the N'Bosoti. Of course, it just bounced off the beast's side, but it would give Yaden a little more time to come up with some miraculous solution.

With a sound that sounded like something between a scoff and a snarl, the N'Bosoti looked at Colin with two of his six eyes. Hardly moving, it grabbed the dining table it was still half standing on, ripped it out of its bracings and hurled it at Colin.

Unable to evade the massive piece of furniture, Colin barely managed to duck. The table slammed into him and both crashed into one of the cabinets, leaving Colin with cuts and bruises and maybe even a few cracked ribs, lying in a pile of shattered wood and cleaning utensils.

But with a determination he never knew he had, Colin forced himself back onto his feet. 'Not on his watch', he had said. And it had been exactly what he meant. As long as there was a single damn breath within him, he would fight. This family was everything he had, everything he lived for, and no one, not even a creature that was supposed to be more of a deity than a person would change any of this.

Grabbing the first thing that looked like a weapon, Colin stepped out of the debris and stared down the now empty kitchen space towards the N'Bosoti. It had mostly abandoned Ivan and was still inching towards Yaden, who was kneeling on the floor by now, white with strain and looking terribly frail and small compared to his assailant.

Colin didn't care. With a few long strides, he was across the room and hit the beast with the broom he had grabbed. "Get out of my home!" he yelled. "You goddamn vermin, get out!"

Utterly not caring about what would happen to him, Colin didn't even flinch when the beast lashed out for him. It easily snapped the broom's wooden handle, but then the attack seemed to freeze a mere inch before Colin's chest.

"I said, get lost!" Colin screamed again. Senseless with anger, he brushed away the N'Bosoti leg and instead took what remained of the broom handle to smack it square across the creature's head. "Get lost! Dar'nam sat, g'dani sqet!"

This time, the creature flinched away from Colin and his unrelenting blows. Its alien eyes filled with utter disbelief, blinking asymmetrically with several of them. It made itself lower and lower, crawling backwards until it was almost walking up the rear wall of the kitchen.

"Get out of my home!" Colin repeated. "GET OUT!!!"

And suddenly, the N'Bosoti vanished with a pop of air filling the vacuum it had left behind.

"Yaden?!" Colin asked into the following silence, first thing before he even blinked. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," his fiancé replied, firmly if a little hesitant. "What the hell did just happen?"

"How am I to know?!" Colin snapped back, still staring at the corner of the room where the N'Bosoti had vanished. "Where has it gone? Is it still here?"

"I can't feel it any longer," Yaden replied hesitantly. "There's no weight on this ship that doesn't belong here, so I'd say it's gone for good."

"Praise the Lord!" Colin exclaimed, the broken broom handle falling from his shivering hands and clattering loudly on the floor. Slowly, he looked around, taking in the whole damage to their kitchen with a numb feeling to his heart.

Only then a groan from the far corner caught his attention, and instantly he remembered.

"Oh my god, Ivan!" Both Colin and Yaden rushed over to Ivan who was sitting on the ground in a pool of blood, holding his hands tightly clenched around his left thigh.

"How bad is it?" Yaden asked.

"Considering that we just survived a direct N'Bosoti attack, I'd say I am doing fucking great!" Ivan replied, grinning. "It missed the femoral artery by an inch, so that's a really good thing. It's also a very clean cut and only grazed the bone, so it should heal neatly."

"But?" Yaden knew Ivan well enough to know that there was something else coming.

"It's a ten inch cut, at least, and right through the muscle." Grimacing, Ivan showed them the cut that ran from the middle of his thigh outward at a shallow angle. "I am pretty much out of the game. Sorry, boss."

"You're alive, that's what counts." Taking a deep breath, Yaden looked around. "Colin, can you find a few dishtowels to make a tourniquet, at least until we get Ivan into the tank?"

Wordlessly, Colin nodded. Silently, he thanked god for all the first-aid lessons the Phoenix Knight Tower had forced him to take in the last months. At least, now he knew what he was doing and wasn't merely standing around helplessly.

While Colin fetched the necessary tools, Yaden squeezed off the water pipes with a twist of his hands and punched a hole through the damaged floor to the lower level so the water could find a proper drain there. Colin was just tying a long, rolled-up towel around Ivan's leg as Yaden suddenly jumped and froze in concentration, while below them, the hum of the generators audibly increased.

"What is it?" Colin asked, his voice all but tilting with fear. "Is it back?"

Yaden shook his head no, but hesitated a moment before he answered. "The small ship we followed just blew up. Big time." He allowed himself a small grin. "Any other ship but the Pebble, and we'd be in big trouble now. We might need to re-map this part of the system, though."

"You got to be kidding me," Ivan remarked, still carefully holding his wound closed.

"Nope. Maybe exaggerating, but not much." Still concentrating, his attention focussed outwards, he added: "The moon looks a bit scorched, but probably hasn't been hit enough to affect its orbit."

"Damn. Can you tell what happened?" Ivan asked, suppressing a yelp as Colin pulled the tourniquet tight with the help of a cooking spoon.

"I think our many-legged friend here paid him a visit, too," Yaden said, grimly. "No loose ends, I'd say."

"Which reminds me -" Ivan pressed through his teeth, still not willing to give in to the pain. "How THE FUCK did you do that?"

It took Colin a heartbeat or two to realize that Ivan was talking to him.

"Huh?"

"How'd you do that?"

"How'd I do what?" Colin asked with a shaky smile, looking at Yaden for help. "I just kinda snapped and beat him with a broom."

But Yaden gently shook his head, walking over to them and calmly helping Ivan onto his feet. "First of all, Ivan and I were too scared to think straight, and you, well, you weren't. You could even talk."

Supporting Ivan on the other side on their way to the stairs, Colin asked: "I think I was so scared of loosing you that it just wasn't that scary. Is that so special?"

Ivan gave a scoffing laugh, or at least he did so as much as he could. "Fear of them is hardwired into every sentient being we have met so far. They are probably the oldest race there is, and they do have some nasty tricks up their sleeves. Most mortals just cower in fear, and as far as we know none of the few that fight can get sassy with them. Even Saint Cornelius treats them with respect."

"I didn't get sassy," Colin complained feebly, feeling his knees getting wobbly underneath him. "Oh God, did I really?"

"You did." Yaden confirmed, his smile full of wonder and admiration. "Called him vermin and a fucking sqet, of all things."

"Right, you called him Youh'Kai names, and it sounded pretty impressive," Ivan wheezed, his face covered with cold sweat. Luckily, the healing tank wasn't far away from the stairs on the third level. "But doesn't sqet mean something like 'human'?"

"I have no clue what you are talking of." Colin replied. "I spoke Youh'Kai?"

"You did, love." By then, they had arrived in front of the healing tank. "Has anyone of you any idea how to operate this thing?"

"I've read the emergency manual," Colin said, pointing at the laminated sheet of paper that was hanging at the side of the machine. "Get Ivan out of his clothes and I'll start it up."

"You know how to operate this thing?" Ivan asked mockingly, despite his voice being slurred by blood loss. "It's not a microwave oven, you are aware of that, yes?"

"As long as it's just uninfected physical damage, these things are about as difficult as microwave ovens," Colin retorted. "Especially if they have all data of the healthy you on speed dial."

"Cool," Ivan replied, soundlessly groaning as Yaden carefully cut off his pants. "Does it make that little 'ping' sound, too, when I am ready?"

"I wouldn't bet against it..."

"You ready?" Yaden asked, looking up at Colin.

"Just get him inside, then cut the tourniquet."

Yaden nodded and took up Ivan into his arms, propping him into the upright tube as carefully as possible. With a rasping sigh, Ivan leaned back against the rubbery lining, pale and shivering.

"Okay, you know the drill," Yaden said firmly. "It'll fill with slime, it'll feel like you drown, but as soon as you take a deep breath, you'll sleep."

"And once I wake up," Ivan concluded, "my leg will be fine and I'll be puking slime all over this place."

"That's pretty much it." Yaden took a pair of scissors and wedged them under the makeshift tourniquet. "Ready."

"Just do it, damn."

Swiftly, Yaden cut the fabric and closed the tank's door, nodding to Colin. Colin pressed a few more buttons and the whole apparatus sprang to life, several valves filling the narrow tube with slime almost instantly. For a heartbeat, Ivan struggled, but then coughed and took a deep breath, inhaling the liquid as deeply as he could. Instantly, his stance relaxed and his eyes closed. A lazy, red swirl tainted the slime around his leg, but the bleeding seemed to have been stopped, too.

"Okay," Colin said into the silence. "It ought to work this way. But even if not, it will stabilize him until we're back home."

Yaden looked at him with his eyes full of wonder and love.

"What?" Colin asked, his hands still shivering.

"I love you so much, you know that?"

"I... I am pretty sure, yes." With a deep sigh, he leaned against Yaden's shoulder. "I am just not cut out for this fighting crap."

"That sure looked different, back there in the kitchen."

"What, I just fought back with what I had!" In the back of his mind, Colin slowly realized that there was a little more to it, but he didn't really want to face it.

"Yes you did. But we really have to talk to some of the specialists at the tower about this." Still smiling, Yaden pushed Colin onto one of the operating tables with gentle insistence, starting to take a look at his countless cuts and bruises. "I always knew you were special, but this was a little more special than what even I expected."

"I - I blocked his attack with my bare hands, didn't I?" Colin said so softly it was almost a whisper.

"Yes." Yaden confirmed simply. Walking over to one of the cabinets, he took out a vial of elixir and started treating the worst of Colin's cuts. "And it was scared of you."

Colin chuckled belligerently. "It had good reason to."

"Indeed." Smiling proudly, Yaden added: "But N'Bosoti are the one race that makes a point of being feared by all, and of being without emotion themselves. Whatever you did to scare him, it is something really, really important. We could need more of that."

"But I didn't DO anything special!" Colin insisted, his voice coarse with stress and fear and confusion. "I never wanted to be anything! A baker, yes, and maybe a good husband and father. But not..."

"A hero?" Yaden suggested with a smirk. "Guess what, I didn't pick it either."

Colin stared at him for a long moment, his eyes widening. Then suddenly, his expression sobered.

"Well, whatever it was, it kept you alive," he said with sudden determination, "and I will definitely not complain about that. If this means I'll start joining you on your missions, so be it. It'll be better than sitting around at home, anyway, wondering if you are alive or not."

For a moment, Yaden seemed to be not overly happy about the idea of Colin joining him on his missions, but then conceded.

"I love you," he said.

"And I love you." With a mirthless grin, Colin added: "I'll need more training."


End file.
